Our neighbor in Bangalore is getting used to our requests to borrow his car. His answer is always “No problem”. We went for another short trip to Mysore, on the day of the cricket world cup semifinals match between India and Pakistan. Cricket being the national sport in India, roads were quite empty on our way from Bangalore to Mysore.
In the afternoon, we met Yogacharya Venkatesha and his wife, Hema, who are the founders of the Atmavikasa Centre of Yogic Sciences in Mysore. Venkatesha has an interesting story to tell…
Starting yoga at the quite early age of 13, and becoming a yoga teacher by 16, he’s won many national and international yoga competitions, just by looking and repeating. Venkatesha cannot remember names, but he has the ability to observe and remember asanas like a film, which he can play again and again in his memory. When he used to go to competitions, he memorised the best practitioners’ movements and repeated them. He never learnt yoga with a guru!
Many things in his life are changing over the years. He lately started studying yoga by reading books. He doesn’t like competitions anymore, nor does he or his wife Hema teach students for yoga competitions. His own yoga has become more spiritual.
We are looking forward to attending their yoga class tomorrow morning.
At 9pm, while falling asleep, we heard the first signs of India winning the cricket world cup semifinals: firecrackers and the sounds of celebrations!
